Simple seal strips for sealing gaps between adjacent floor members of reciprocating floor conveyors are well known and have been in use for many years. My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,761 discloses a resiliently-bendable elastomeric seal for such a purpose. The elastomeric seal has a base portion received within a groove of a first side edge of each floor member. The elastomeric seal extends upwardly into the gap between each floor member and its adjacent floor member. At its upper free edge, each elastomeric seal is biased against the opposing side edge of the adjacent floor member. The seal strip of the present invention, and its relation to floor slat members of a particular construction, constitute an improvement over the elastomeric seal of my '761 patent, as well as the elastomeric seals of other prior art patents relating to reciprocating floor conveyors.
Adjacent floor members of reciprocating floor conveyors are designed to have a narrow gap therebetween. An elastomeric seal is provided within each of these gaps for sealing the reciprocating floor conveyors. The elastomeric seals prevent debris and other material from falling downwardly between adjacent floor members. In general, the elastomeric seals are secured along one floor member and biased against an adjacent floor member. While such a design functions well in preventing debris from escaping between floor members, it will not necessarily prevent debris from getting captured between the elastomeric seal and its supporting floor member. Captured debris can result in increased wear and abrasion on the seal, therefore effectively shortening the seal's useful life.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved seal strip that seals off the gap between adjacent floor members in the upper regions of the gap and thereby prevents debris or other material from becoming entrapped between the seal and the side edge of a floor member, which debris tends to wear out the elastomeric seal and, thus, requires more frequent replacement.